Pakistan Hockey Team Embarrasses Itself With Epic Blunder vs India
The Pakistan hockey team management was left red faced when the umpires penalized the side for fielding six instead of five players against India in the five-a-side international event being held in Muscat, Oman.
The Pakistan hockey team management was left red faced when the umpires penalized the side for fielding six instead of five players against India in the five-a-side international event being held in Muscat, Oman. The incident took place on Friday night when as soon as the match started the umpires spotted six Pakistani players on the field whereas only five are allowed. As a result the umpires sent out two players, leaving Pakistan with just three players on the field and India took full advantage of the comic situation slamming in 8 goals.
A reliable source said that when the interim President of the Pakistan Hockey Federation learnt about the incident he was pretty upset and has demanded an explanation from the team management which includes chief coach Tahir Zaman and coaches Rehan Butt, Qamar Ibrahim and Umar Bhutta.
Apparently the management has conveyed that the misunderstanding happened because of some players not understanding the communication with the coaches.
In the 2022 Men's Hockey Asia Cup held in Jakarta also a similar blunder from the Pakistan hockey team management resulted in Pakistan losing a qualification match to Japan after their late goal equalizer was disallowed by the umpires as they had 12 players instead of 11 on the field.
The outcome eventually resulted in Pakistan not qualifying for the 2023 World Cup and head coach, Khawaja Junaid being handed a life ban by the PHF.
But the ban was lifted and Junaid is now in the main fold of the senior team management.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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